Swiss
Swiss (Emmentaler) cheese, which is a large, hard, pressed-curd cheese with an elastic body and a mild, nut-like, sweetish flavor, is best known because of the holes or eyes that develop in the curd as the cheese ripens. The eyes often are ½ to 1 inch in diameter and from 1 to 3 inches apart. The cheeses are about 6 inches thick, frequently more than 36 inches in diameter, and usually weigh between 160 and 230 pounds.
Switzerland is famous for this so-called King of Cheeses, and a large part of the milk produced in Switzerland is used in its production. It was first made, probably about the middle of the 15th century, in the Canton of Bern in the Emmental Valley (which accounts for its native name Emmentaler). The industry was well developed and cheese was being exported by the middle of the 17th century. Only the best cheese is exported, and it is commonly called "Switzerland Swiss."
Swiss cheese is made in many other countries besides Switzerland, including France, Denmark, Germany, Bavaria, Italy, Austria, Finland, Russia, Argentina, and the United States. Allgäuer Emmentaler, Bellunese, Formaggio Doke, Fontina, Fontine d'Aosta, and Traanen are local names for similar cheeses made in Switzerland and nearby countries. Gruyère, made mostly in France, is similar to Swiss but is smaller and cures somewhat differently. Danish Swiss is called Samso.
The first Swiss cheese in the United States was made about 1850 by Swiss immigrants, and much of it is still being made by their descendants. Among the hard cheeses, Swiss ranks third in the quantity produced each year. About two-thirds of the annual production of 130 million pounds is made in Illinois and Wisconsin. Idaho, Minnesota, Ohio, Utah, and Wyoming also are producers. In the United States, Swiss cheese is often called Schweizer or Sweitzer.
Swiss cheese is one of the most difficult kinds of cheese to make. Control of the quality and composition of the milk, propagation and use of the essential bacterial starters, and the details of manufacture are complicated procedures that require the services of a skilled cheesemaker, and its successful manufacture is a factory operation that requires special equipment.
Three species of bacteria are used as starters: Streptococcus thermophilus, called the coccus culture; a lactobacillus—Lactobacillus bulgaricus or L. lactis—called the rod culture; and Propionibacterium shermanii (a propionic-acid-forming micro-organism), called the eye former. The lactobacillus and streptococcus produce lactic acid, which aids in expelling the whey, and they probably contribute to the breakdown of the curd during ripening. The propionic-acid bacteria are largely responsible for the characteristic flavor and eye formation.
Although there are slight differences between the methods used for making Swiss cheese in Switzerland and in the United States, following is a brief description of the general method:
Swiss cheese is made in round copper kettles that hold at least 2,000 pounds of milk, and frequently 3,000 or 3,200 pounds. The kettles are double-jacketed or have a steam chamber in the bottom. Good-quality, fresh milk is essential. It is advisable to clarify and standardize the milk. Clarification increases the elasticity of the curd in the cheese and improves eye formation. Standardizing the fat content of the milk assures cheese of uniform composition; usually slightly more than 10 percent of the fat is removed.
As the milk flows from the clarifier into the kettle, steam is turned on in the jacket or steam chamber under the kettle, and the milk is warmed to setting temperature (88° to 94° F.). Stirring is begun, the starter is added, and shortly thereafter enough rennet extract is added so the curd will be firm enough to cut in 30 minutes (the first indication of thickening appears in from 20 to 22 minutes).
As soon as the curd is firm enough to cut, the surface is "turned under"—that is, the creamy top layer is skimmed off with a wide, flat scoop and pushed to the back of the kettle, in order to mix this creamy layer with the rest of the curd. The curd is cut with a Swiss-cheese harp—from back to front and from side to side—into long rectangular strips about 1 inch square. Then the curd is turned under from top to bottom with a scoop, so that which was underneath will be on the surface, and the pieces are cut into 1-inch cubes. About 5 minutes after cutting is completed, the curd is harped (cut and mixed) until the particles are about ⅛ inch in diameter. This usually requires about 15 minutes.
Then the curd is "foreworked"—that is, stirred slowly, either continuously or at intervals—for 30 minutes to an hour or more as it acquires firmness. When it is sufficiently firm, steam is turned on and the curd is heated, usually in 30 minutes, to a temperature between 120° and 127.5° F. It is stirred continuously while it is being heated, and stirring is continued for at least 25 minutes and sometimes for an hour or longer after the final cooking temperature is reached. This is called "stirring out." As soon as the particles of curd can be broken apart easily without sticking when compressed in the hand, the curd is ready to be dipped. Some cheese-makers add several gallons of cold water at this point. Stirring is discontinued, so the curd will settle, and some of the whey is drawn off.
The curd is enclosed in a large, coarsely woven dipping cloth, and it is hoisted slowly over the kettle with a block and tackle, and the excess whey drains into the kettle. The bag of curd is then lowered into a circular wooden or stainless-steel hoop, which rests on a circular pressboard on a drain table. The curd is pressed gently down into the hoop, the edges of the cloth are smoothed over the curd, a circular pressboard is laid on top of the curd, and the curd is pressed from above with a screw- or lever-press.
About 5 minutes later, the hoop is removed; a clean, light cloth and a clean, heavy burlap cloth are substituted for the dipping cloth; the hoop is replaced; the cheese is turned over and another pressboard is placed on it; and it is pressed again. This process is repeated at definite intervals for 24 hours.
Then the cheese is removed from the press and, still in the hoop, it is taken to the so-called cold room (temperature about 55° F. and relative humidity 80 to 85 percent), where it is salted in brine. The cheese may be removed from the hoop and placed in the salt tank at once; or, still in the hoop, it may be placed on a shelf to cool for a day or so before it is salted. It is left in the salt brine for 2 or 3 days, the time depending on the size of the cheese, the amount of salt absorbed, and the rind formation desired. It is turned over and sprinkled with salt daily. Then it is placed on a circular board on a shelf in the cold room for a week or 10 days; it is washed, turned, and sprinkled with dry salt daily.
Then it is transferred to a clean board on a shelf in the warm room (temperature 65° to 72° F. and relative humidity 80 to 85 percent), where the principal ripening process takes place. The cheese is washed with salty water, it is turned and placed on a clean board, and salt is rubbed on the surface every few days. The eyes begin to form when the cheese is about 3 weeks old; eye formation is controlled to some extent by regulating the temperature of the room. The cheese usually remains in the warm room for 4 to 6 weeks; then it is returned to the cold room for further but slower curing, or to a storage room where it is held at about 40°.
Much of the cheese made in the United States is marketed after curing for 3 or 4 months (the minimum curing period is 2 months). Most of the cheese exported from Switzerland is cured for 6 to 10 months and has a more pronounced flavor.
A cheese weighing between 185 and 210 pounds can be made from a 2,500-pound kettle of milk. Several cheeses are packed in a round, wooden box for shipment; the box may contain more than 1,000 pounds of cheese. Swiss cheese is also made in rectangular blocks, about 28 inches long and 8 inches square, that weigh 25 to 28 pounds.
So-called rindless Swiss cheese is made by a somewhat modified method. The milk (in some instances as much as 20,000 pounds) is set in a rectangular vat, and the curd is prepared in the usual way. The curd and whey are transferred to a so-called press vat. Then, in a procedure similar to that used in making Herrgårdsost, the curd is pressed under the whey into a flat, rectangular block. The block of curd is subdivided into sections, each of which makes a cheese. Each cheese is placed in a cloth-lined box and pressed, then removed from the box, salted in brine, and dried. Then it is wrapped in film and placed in-a box to cure.
Analysis (Domestic Swiss): Moisture, 39.4 percent (not more than 41 percent); fat, 27.5 percent (not less than 43 percent in the solids); protein, 27.4 percent; and salt, 1 to 1.6 percent.
Taffelost
Taffelost, a rather sharp-flavored Scandinavian cheese, is said to be a whey cheese resembling Mysost. Small quantities are imported into the United States.
Tafi
Tafi is the name of a cheese made in Tucuman, Argentina.
Taleggio
Taleggio, a soft, surface-ripened, Stracchino (whole-milk) cheese with a moldy rind, was first made in the Taleggio Valley in Lombardy, Italy, after World War I. The cheeses are about 8 inches square and 2 inches thick and weigh from 3½ to 4 pounds.
A starter is added to fresh, whole, cow's milk, and the milk is set with rennet at a temperature between 85° and 90° F. About 30 minutes later, the curd is cut into walnut-size cubes. When the curd is sufficiently firm, it is gathered in a cloth, drained to remove the whey, and then is put into forms.
When the cheeses are firm enough to retain their shape, they are removed from the forms and salted—usually in dry salt but sometimes in brine. They are cured for about 2 months at a temperature between 36° and 40° F.
Tamie
Tamie cheese is made by Trappists in Savoy, France. The exact method of manufacture is a trade secret, but the cheese is similar to Tome de Beaumont.
Tanzenberger
Tanzenberger is a Limburger-type cheese that is made in Carinthia, in southern Austria.
Teleme
Teleme, also called Brândza de Braila, is a so-called pickled cheese made from goat's or ewe's milk in Rumania, Bulgaria, Greece, and Turkey. It is very much like Greek Feta. Fresh milk is set with rennet at a temperature of about 86° F.; the curd is broken up, collected in a cloth, covered, and pressed with a weight. The pressed curd is cut into pieces about 3 or 4 inches square and 1¼ to 2 inches thick, and they are immersed in salt brine for a day. The cheeses are cured for 8 to 10 days either in dilute salt brine in a cask or packed in layers in a metal container, with salt between the layers. The cured cheese is white and creamy. About 20 pounds of cheese is obtained from 100 pounds of goat's milk and 30 pounds per 100 pounds of ewe's milk.
Analysis: Moisture, 28.3 percent; fat, 37.5 percent; protein, 30.0 percent; and salt, 2.4 percent.
Terzolo
Terzolo is the Italian term used to distinguish Parmesan-type or Grana cheese made in winter from Maggengo, which is made between April and September, and from Quartirolo, which is made between September and November.
Texel
Texel is a ewe's-milk cheese made on the Island of Texel, which is in the North Sea off the coast of the Netherlands. The cheeses weigh between 3 and 4 pounds.
Analysis: Moisture, 54.5 percent; fat, 18.3 percent; protein, 20.1 percent; and salt, 3.4 percent.
Thenay
Thenay is a soft, whole-milk cheese that resembles Camembert and Vendôme. It is made, and most of it is consumed, in the region of Thenay, Department of Loir-et-Cher, France. Rennet is added to a mixture of evening and morning milk at a temperature of about 85° F. About 4 or 5 hours later, the curd is broken up and dipped into hoops about 5 inches in diameter and 4 inches deep. After whey has drained from the curd for about a day, the cheeses are removed from the hoops and salted. They are placed in a well ventilated room for about 20 days, during which time they will become covered with mold. The mold is cleaned off, and the cheeses are moved to a cool, moist cellar to cure for another 15 days.
Analysis: Moisture, 30.1 percent; fat, 15.0 percent; protein, 18.1 percent; and salt, 4.8 percent.
Tibet
Tibet is a hard, grating cheese that is made from ewe's milk in Tibet. The curd is formed into small 2-inch cubes of cheese, and they are hung by strings, 50 to 100 cheeses in a group, to dry and cure.
Tignard
Tignard, which resembles Gex and Sassenage, is a hard, blue-veined cheese made from ewe's or goat's milk in the Tigne Valley in Savoy, France.
Tilsiter
Tilsiter, sometimes called Ragnit, is a cow's-milk cheese that was first made by immigrants from the Netherlands who settled in the vicinity of Tilsit in East Prussia. It is made also in northern Germany, where it is especially popular, and in central Europe. It is a medium-firm, slightly yellow, plastic cheese, similar to Brick cheese, with some mechanical openings, and in some instances small, round eyes. It has a mild to medium-sharp piquant flavor, similar to mild Limburger. Sometimes caraway seed is added to skim-milk Tilsiter.
The cheeses usually are cylindrical and flat, 9 to 10 inches in diameter, 4 to 5½ inches thick, and weigh about 10 pounds. However, in some factories, they are made in rectangular loaf shape.
The milk—preferably whole milk, but frequently skim milk—is warmed in a round, copper kettle to a temperature of 85° to 95° F., the higher temperature being used for whole milk. Lactic starter is added if the milk is pasteurized or if it has not developed enough acidity, and cheese color and rennet are added. About 40 minutes later, when the curd is firm, it is turned with a scoop, cut until the pieces are about half an inch in diameter, and cutting and stirring are continued as the curd is warmed to a temperature of 108° to 115° in 30 to 40 minutes and the curd particles become rather firm and shrink to the size of peas. Then, after the curd settles, much of the whey is removed, and the curd is dipped rapidly into perforated wooden or metal forms that rest on a drain table. The forms of curd, which are covered to keep the curd warm, are turned every 15 minutes the first hour and less frequently the rest of the day. The cheese is not pressed.
When sufficiently firm, the cheeses are removed from the forms and salted. They may be rubbed with dry salt, immersed in brine, or packed in dry salt in small kegs for 2 or 3 days. Then they are dried and cured on clean shelves at a temperature of 54° to 59° F. and a relative humidity of 90 to 92 percent. The shelves are replaced frequently with clean ones, and the cheeses are washed frequently with salty water, wiped practically dry, and turned. They gradually become covered with a yellow smear that changes to a reddish color; the smear is washed off occasionally. The cheese is fully cured in 5 to 6 months but sometimes is marketed in 2 or 3 months. It is wrapped in parchment or tinfoil and packed in octagonal boxes, 10 to 12 cheeses in a box. About 6 pounds of skim-milk cheese and as much as 10 pounds of whole-milk cheese is obtained per 100 pounds of milk.
Analysis: Moisture, from 46 to 56 percent; fat, from 7.2 to 26.8 percent (depending on the fat content of the milk from which the cheese is made).
Tome de Beaumont
Tome de Beaumont is made in France from cow's whole milk. The milk is heated to a temperature of about 80° F. and coagulated with rennet in about 30 minutes. The curd is cut fine, heated to about 100°, stirred, and put into cloth-lined molds that are 7 inches in diameter and 4 inches deep. The cheese is pressed for 6 to 8 hours; the cloths are changed frequently during this period. It is salted and then cured for 5 to 6 weeks.
Topfkäse
Topfkäse, a sour-milk, cooked-curd cheese made in Germany, is a modification of Topfen, the German Cooked cheese. The heated curd is poured into earthen pots (topfe); hence, the name.
Analysis: Moisture, 60 to 72 percent; fat, 6 to 7 percent; and protein, 17 to 25 percent.
Toscanello
Toscanello, made in the Department of Tuscany, Italy, is a very hard, ewe's-milk cheese, suitable for grating.
Touareg
Touareg is a skim-milk cheese made by Berber tribes in Africa, from the Barbary States to Lake Chad. Sometimes rennet is used to coagulate the milk, and sometimes a milk-coagulating preparation made from the leaves of the Korourou tree is used. The soft curd is dipped on mats, in very thin layers. When it is firm enough to retain its shape, it is either placed outside in the sunlight for about 10 days or near a fire for about 6 days. It is turned occasionally, and it becomes very hard and dry. It is not salted.
Touloumisio
Touloumisio is a Greek cheese similar to Feta. Curd, which is prepared in the same way as in making Feta, is put into skin bags. After the whey is drained off, the curd is salted on tables, then placed in wooden barrels until it is firm. Then it is washed thoroughly and cut into small pieces which are put into skin bags. Either salt brine or milk is poured into the bags to cover the curd; milk is said to improve the quality of the cheese. The bags of cheese are placed in a cold warehouse to cure; they are opened occasionally to permit gas, which is formed by fermentation, to escape.
Trappist
Trappist cheese was first made in 1885 in a monastery near Banjaluka in Bosnia, Yugoslavia. It is made also in monasteries in Hungary, Czecho¬slovakia, southern Germany, and other parts of Europe. It is much the same as the Port du Salut cheese made in France and the Oka cheese made in Canada, but there are variations in the manufacturing process.
The cheese is pale yellow and has a mild flavor. Although it is a semisoft cheese, it is cured more like the hard cheeses. It is washed frequently during the curing period, which largely prevents the growth of mold on the surface, and it ripens throughout rather than only from the surface. The size varies, the smallest being about 7 inches in diameter and weighing 2½ to 3 pounds. A larger size is about 10 inches in diameter and weighs about 5 pounds—the usual size of Port du Salut. There are still larger sizes, weighing about 10 pounds or more.
Trappist cheese is made from fresh, whole milk, usually cow's milk but some ewe's or goat's milk may be added. The milk is set with rennet at a temperature of about 82° to 90° F. After a coagulation period of 30 to 40 minutes (or as long as 90 when the setting temperature is low) the curd is cut, stirred, and heated, in some instances to a temperature of 95° to 108°. The whey is removed and the curd is transferred to forms. In Bosnia, the curd is pressed lightly, and the cheese is rather soft and tender. In Hungary and Czechoslovakia, the curd is pressed more heavily, and the cheese is somewhat firmer. The ripening period is from 5 to 6 weeks. The salted cheese is cured initially in a humid room at a temperature of 62° to 68° and later in a cooler cellar. The yield is 9 to 11 pounds of cheese per 100 pounds of cow's milk.
Analysis: Moisture, 45.9 percent; fat, 26.1 percent; protein, 23.3 percent; and salt, 1.3 to 2.5 percent.
Travnik
Travnik, known also as Arnauten and Vlasic, is a soft cheese made from ewe's milk to which a small proportion of goat's milk is added. Usually it is made from whole milk, but sometimes skim milk is used. It was first made more than a century ago in Albania, where it was known as Arnautski Sir or Arnauten cheese. Later the industry spread to Yugoslavia (Bosnia, Herzegovina, and the Vlasic Plain area), and it became known as Travnik for the town of that name in Bosnia, which is the center of trade.
Enough rennet is added to fresh, warm milk to coagulate it in from 1½ to 2 hours, and it is left undisturbed until the curd contracts and whey appears on the surface. Then the curd is put into woolen sacks, and the whey is drained from it for 7 or 8 hours. Then the curd is removed from the sacks and pressed by hand into flattened balls, which are dried for a short time in the open air. When they are sufficiently dry, the balls of cheese are packed in layers in kegs. The kegs are 14 to 28 inches in diameter and about 24 inches deep and hold from 50 to 130 pounds of cheese. Each layer of cheese is salted and pressed to remove air spaces. Usually there is some whey on the surface when the keg is full, and the excess whey is removed. The cheese is covered and pressed lightly. It may be eaten either fresh or after curing for periods ranging from 2 weeks to several months. The fresh, whole-milk cheese is soft, almost white, and mild and pleasing in flavor.
Trecce
Trecce is a small, plastic-curd (pasta filata) Italian cheese. The curd is braided or interlaced. The cheese is eaten fresh.
Trouville
Trouville is a soft, ripened cheese, very much like an excellent quality Pont l'Évêque. The two cheeses are made in the same area in Normandy, France, and they are made by almost identical processes except that (1) Trouville is made only from whole milk and Pont l'Évêque is made from either whole or partly skimmed milk; and (2) in making Trouville, the milk is set at a temperature as low as 85° F., as well as at the higher temperatures (90° to 95°) used in making Pont l'Évêque.
While curing, Trouville is washed frequently with cloths that have been dipped in salty water, to control the development of surface molds and smear.
Troyes
Troyes is the name sometimes used to refer to two kinds of cheese of the Camembert type (Ervy and Barberey) that are made in small quantities near Troyes, France.
Tschil
Tschil cheese, known also as Leaf, Telpanir, and Zwirn, is made in Armenia from either ewe's or cow's sour skim milk. The milk is heated to a temperature of 122° F. in a kettle over a fire. The whey is removed and the curd is kneaded by hand until it is fairly dry and firm; then it is pressed into cakes. The cakes are placed in a wooden trough, salted, and ripened for 5 to 8 days. When a number of cakes have been made, they are broken up and packed in skins.
Twdr Sir
Twdr Sir cheese is made in Serbia from ewe's skim milk. The milk is set with rennet at a temperature of about 104° F. The curd is cut, dipped in a cloth, salted lightly, and pressed in forms that are from 10 to 12 inches in diameter and about 2 inches deep. When cured, the cheese contains small holes and has a sharp flavor; it is similar to Brick cheese but contains less fat.
Tworog
Tworog, a sour-milk cheese, is made on a large scale by Russian farmers. The milk is set in a warm place for 24 hours; then the whey is removed, and the curd is put into wooden forms and pressed. The cheese is often used in making a bread called Notruschki.
Uri
Uri, a hard, cow's-milk cheese made in the Canton of Uri, Switzerland, is from 8 to 12 inches in diameter, about 8 inches thick, and weighs between 20 and 40 pounds.
Urseren
Urseren (Italian, Orsera) is a mild-flavored cheese made in Switzerland. The milk is coagulated in 30 to 40 minutes at a temperature of 86° to 95° F.; the curd is cooked for 30 minutes at a temperature of 104° to 122°; then it is cut to the size of hemp seeds. The curd is placed in hoops and pressed lightly. After the whey has drained, the cheese is salted and is cured at a temperature of 50° to 54°.
Vacherin
Vacherin is a name common to several different kinds of cheese made in Switzerland and France.
Vacherin a la Main is made in Switzerland and in the Savoy, France. It is ripened cheese with a firm, hard rind and a very soft interior. It is eaten with a spoon or is used as a spread for bread. Cow's whole milk is set with rennet at a temperature of about 85° F., and the coagulated curd is cut fine and pressed in hoops about 12 inches in diameter and 5 to 6 inches deep. The cheeses are salted and ripened. They weigh from 5 to 10 pounds. Similar cheese made in the same region is known as Tome de Montagne.
Vacherin as made in the Canton of Fribourg, Switzerland is a soft cheese.
Vacherin du Mont d'Or is made in France, and is similar to Livarot.
Vacherin Fondu is made in much the same way as Swiss. After it is cured, it is melted and spices are added.
Västgotaöst
Västgotaöst, made in the Province of Västergötland, Sweden, is an open-textured cheese similar to Herrgårdsost. It is made in much the same way as Herrgårdsost except that the curd is broken up and hooped immediately after the whey is removed from the heated curd. This results in cheese with irregular mechanical openings instead of round eyes.
Västerbottensost, made in the Province of Västerbotten, in northern Sweden, is made in the same way except that the curd is stirred for a pro-longed period after it is heated which makes it very firm when it is dipped.
Vendôme
Vendôme, which is a soft, ripened cheese similar to Camembert and Thenay, is named for Vendome in the Department of Loir-et-Cher, France, where it is made. It is cylindrical, about 5 inches in diameter and 4 inches thick. Rennet is added to a mixture of evening and morning milk at a temperature between 75° and 85° F. After a coagulation period of 4 to 5 hours in summer and 5 to 6 hours in winter, the curd is broken up and put into hoops to drain; the hoops are turned frequently. The following day, the cheeses are removed from the hoops, and salt is rubbed on the surface twice daily for several days. They are cured in a cool, moist cellar, sometimes buried in ashes. Most of the cheese is marketed in Paris.
Veneto
Veneto, which is also called Venezza and which is similar to Asiago, is one of the Italian Grana or Parmesan-type cheeses. It is cylindrical and flat, from 8 to 16 inches in diameter and 5 to 8 inches thick, and weighs from 25 to 60 pounds. The surface of the cheese is oiled and may be colored dark. The interior is granular, and usually greenish yellow, but cheese made in the spring may be the color of straw and cheese made in the winter may be nearly white. It usually has a sharp flavor; in some instances, bitter. Usually it does not have eyes. It is cured for 1 to 2 years. When cured, it is very hard and is used for grating.
Analysis: Moisture, 28 to 35 percent; fat in the solids, 25 to 40 percent.
Villiers
Villiers is a square, soft cheese made in the Department of Haute-Marne, France. Each cheese weighs about a pound.
Vizé
Vizé, a hard cheese similar to Romano but smaller, is made in Greece. It is a ewe's-milk cheese suitable for grating.
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